September 19, 2012 — THE Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has given a cautious welcome to the suggestion from a number of parties involved in the global seafood supply chain of forming a global sustainable seafood initiative (GSSI).
The stated aim of this new body is to "enhance and support an efficient, sustainable seafood supply chain, by providing transparent and objective analysis of the credibility, performance and acceptance of the different certification programs that exist within the wild capture and aquaculture sectors." The MSC has given the following response to the idea:
“MSC welcomes the proposal to create a Global Seafood Sustainability Initiative, if we are correct in our understanding of the intent behind the initiative. With the growing number of certification programs as well as other forms of sustainability assurance programs operating in many markets around the world, there is an indisputable need for truly independent review and ranking of the services and claims being made by the various programs, as well as a mechanism to ensure quality control among the programs.
“MSC would be delighted to see a credible, balanced, transparent process to evaluate, benchmark and grade the performance of the various programs providing assurances about sustainability and responsible management in world fisheries. That would be a welcome and needed evolution in the sustainable seafood movement.